Randomized trial of the effect of zinc supplementation on the mental health of school-age children in Guatemala.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

The researchers examined the effect of zinc supplementation on the mental health of school-age children in Guatemala.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 674 children were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are children, men only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The children were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the children nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

Outcome measures included internalizing (ie, depression and anxiety) and externalizing (ie, hyperactivity and conduct disorder) problem behaviors, positive behaviors (ie, socialization and leadership), and serum zinc concentrations.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anxiety, Child Behavior, Depression, Dietary Supplements, Guatemala, Mental Disorders and Mental Health.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 674 children.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2010 (The American journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.